On 03/10/2015 10:25, Neil Williams wrote:

On 2015-10-03 01:29:58 +0000, JNugent said:

Because a taxi is - in its very essence - a *private* space which can
be hired by the passenger to the exclusion of others. It is not a bus.
If a bus is what is wanted, buses are available.

But demand-responsive hailable shared transport (unless you arrange the
share) is not available, and seems to be illegal. Why?

In order to protect the passenger and preserve his/her right to privacy.

What would you think if a minicab driver picked up your daughter in the
West End late at night, then airily informed her that she had to share
the vehicle from Marble Arch to Ealing with his brother-in-law the
convicted rapist and the Southall Strangler?

It would seem
to provide an effective half-bus half-taxi means of transport in smaller
towns where proper bus operation is increasingly unaffordable.

Safety first.